From Head To Toe: August 2010

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In this and that,

The Body Shop's Petition to Stop Sex Trafficking

As a few of you who have been following me for the past year know, last winter there was a "Favorite Holiday Vlogger" contest on The Body Shop's website. Through your love and support in votes, I actually had the privilege of winning the contest. Even now, thinking back on it, I can't believe it happened but I am so grateful because it gave me the ability to bring light to a very dark situation that The Body Shop is working to combat.

I first heard that The Body Shop was working to raise awareness and garner support for the fight against sex trafficking through their Twitter which really moved me to the point of actually telling others about it 1-on-1 in my personal life and in a few e-mails to those who have sent me messages. Did you know that there are nearly 1.2 million children and young people forced into sex trafficking each year? That number astounds me. I can't even wrap my head around a physical number of people that large. It really breaks my heart that something so personal like sexuality could be manipulated into a cruel game of money and control, both mentally and physically.

This is why I decided to make this blog post. They have asked me to let you know that they are making a petition to the US government to give children greater protection against trafficking. It's easy to sign ECPAT and The Body Shop's petition here but hopefully with enough signatures, it can make a bigger difference in the world than us just typing our names in behind the safety of a computer.

I already signed it and it literally requires no login, no making any accounts, nothing to track back or spam you. All you need is your name and city and 5 seconds of your time.

I also looked into what else we can do to help (without any request or e-mail suggesting it) and found that 100% of the proceeds from their Soft Hands Kind Heart hand cream will go to EPCAT, the Body Shop's global partner charity, to continue their important work.

Also, $2 of each sale from the Stop Sex Trafficking Bag for Life (that is, 100% of the net proceeds) goes to the Somaly Mam Foundation.

http://www.somaly.org/ states that their mission is "[t]o give victims and survivors a voice in their lives, liberate victims, end slavery, and empower survivors as they create and sustain lives of dignity."

I know this sounds like just another post but I promise you, that's not what this is and not how I feel about it. It actually hits pretty close to home because just a couple years ago, part of a huge sex trafficking ring was shut down at several locations in the city I'm living in. This ring shuffled girls and women aged in their mid-teens to 20's from China to San Francisco, my city, New York, and a couple other cities in the US while only keeping them in each location for 3-4 weeks at a time in "Asian Massage" parlors where they were unpaid, cramped together, and watched on surveillance cameras. I was shocked because I live in a nicer suburban area that has a lot of pride in its education and safety.

The trickier thing is that legally, there are a lot of problems with defining sex trafficking since some people may have been led to it somewhat knowingly, or some coerced to leave their families for promises of money and freedom, or some not knowing what they are getting into altogether. Most are completely ashamed and would rather lie than dishonor their families back home. The blurry lines make it tougher to prosecute the ringleaders who would, of course, claim that everything was known beforehand and done willingly. I don't know about you, but this fires me up to no end.

I don't expect everyone to read through what I just wrote but if you did, I appreciate it. In a world where women and young people can be treated like they are sacks of potatoes to be used up and thrown away, I think it's our obligation as women with voices to speak for those who can't speak for themselves. Please add your name to the petition and lets pray that the government listens.